Get Started with Raspberry Pi

This guide is for the Raspberry Pi computer (Pi 4, Pi 5, Zero 2 W, and similar) — a full Linux single-board computer, not a microcontroller.

Raspberry Pi vs Raspberry Pi Pico — Which Guide Do I Need?

These are two completely different products that share a brand name:

	Raspberry Pi (this guide)	Raspberry Pi Pico
What it is	A full computer	A microcontroller board
Operating system	Runs Linux (Raspberry Pi OS)	No OS — runs one program at a time
How you program it	SSH in, write Python/any language, run it like a normal computer	Upload a sketch from the Arduino IDE, similar to Arduino/ESP32
Setup process	Flash an OS image to a microSD card, boot, SSH in	Install Arduino IDE, add board package, upload sketch
Good for	Servers, desktops, computer-vision, anything needing a full OS	Simple sensors/actuators, battery-powered projects, real-time control

If you're looking to blink an LED with a simple sketch and no operating system, you want the Raspberry Pi Pico guide instead — it's a different board and a different setup process from what's covered here.

What You'll Need

A Raspberry Pi board (Pi 5, Pi 4, Pi Zero 2 W, or similar — any model supported by Raspberry Pi Imager)
A microSD card, 8GB or larger (16GB+ recommended)
A computer with an SD card slot or a USB SD card reader
A power supply for your Pi model, and (for first boot troubleshooting) a way to connect a monitor/keyboard or a wired network connection